Breaking free from the Norm (Open)

Ah Summer. One of Akira's favorite seasons. The temperature was always near higher numbers, which brought a pleasant heat with it, his favorite fruits were usually in season, and therefore very cheap, and all of the pools and various swimming areas were open. All in all the days were rather mellow in summer. Which was just how Akira liked it. Every once in a while, on days like this, it was just too nice for the man to go to work. And, considering that he was very much self employed, today he just wasn't going to head into the general area of his jobs. As he walked through town, he couldn't help but smile. Things were headed his way for once, people had slowly stopped disappearing, his jobs had started to pay better, and just all around his life was headed upwards. Yeah, things are sure looking up. he said to himself as a line similar to what was going on with his life played through the single earbud he had in. The irony of it caused him to grin as he made a turn away from the bridge, heading back to the center of town, as always sticking out like a sore thumb from the strange colors of his hair and attire. He planned on doing something different today, and nothing was going to stop him from doing that.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he jammed his other earbud into his ear, smiling as he listened to one of his favorite bands of the moment. It was a very good song that he was listening to, and it was a rather catchy song, which he found himself singing along to under his breath, which only served to widen the smile on his face.

It wasn't often that Sharaku visited San Malarus, but it seemed like a good option lately. Not that he minded way too much, but he kept being dragged into something almost everytime he hung out around his home island. Maybe it was time to go somewhere else once in a while. Even though he figured that if he had to get involved in something, it'd happen even if he went to the moon that day. '...That doesn't even sound like a bad idea.' Well, maybe in general it didn't, but he doubted going to the moon would be a thing anyway. Although, it would at least be cooler there. He did not dislike summer, but the heat could be annoying sometimes, moreso when he was wearing mostly black, as usual. But, colorful clothes didn't suit him anyway. It looked too weird in contrast to his skin color and all.

Color matching aside, there wasn't much to do on the streets at the moment. Not even many people around. Not that it was an issue, but boredom wasn't exactly welcome either. Sadly, he had no idea what to do here if not counting the museum he had been to once. That was not nearly entertaining enough right now. Where was the fun in looking at old artefacts? He was distracted from making tedious decision when he noticed an odd person walking around. Well, not particularly odd, as he already knew someone with white hair, but let's just put it down as easily noticeable. Whatever. Though, since he already noticed the man, it might be a good idea to ask whether he knew some more interesting place around here. And he would have, however, the idea was rather short lived. As it was not hard to take note that the man was busy with his music when he approached closer. ''........'' So maybe he should just forget this. It wasn't in his forte to interrupt people rudely when they were doing something, and this apparently counted as enough for that. That in mind, he would lightly shrug to himself, not saying anything, although he would keep his golden eyes on the man for a while. Looking didn't change much anyway. Though, in retrospect he probably appeared a bit weird at the moment. But hey, he most likely wouldn't have come around if he knew hepd be faced with this. Ha, sometimes he wished he did not have his manners. In that case, he could just have yelled at the guy, and go about it in a more extreme way. That however, was not happening.....unless the world turned upside down, or he had a legit reason to be an ass. Or perhaps if the person in question was someone he already knew wouldn't mind that kind of approach.

Despite having both headphones in, Akira heard the footsteps of someone approaching behind him, causing him to click the little remote button on his ear buds and take them out of his ears, turning around and seeing a rather dark person. It was odd to him, but only because he typically wore a lot of color, so seeing the inverse threw him for a loop. However, he realized that everyone had their own specific style, so whatever. He put the ear buds and mp3 player away, smiling and waving at the Man before him as he walked over to him. He hadn't seen this man around before, so he simply assumed  that he was a tourist. looking for something to do I take it? he asked the Man with a near omnipresent smile. Truth be told, there wasn't much to do in San Malarus, but the creative mind could make things to do, if one wasn't picky about the activities they did. Akira was that kind of person.

Ah, wait, where are my manners? He asked himself with a chuckle before extending a gloved hand. I'm Akira, what's your name? He asked in a rather laid back tone. He didn't really mind if his attempt at meeting people didn't quite work out truth be told. He would just be glad to be able to recognise people other than the ones he had grown up around, picking people out of a crowd made for a decent form of entertainment on really slow days. Though, he supposed that there needed to at least be a crowd of people for that to be a thing. So, if he was looking for things to do, that already ruled out one thing. Though, there was that kendo dojo that the academy's Kenos team used for practice and home matches..but the odds of this rather sharply dressed person being into that kind of thing was...minimal at best. So that ruled out two things. Jeez, if any more things got ruled out they'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel real fast.

Ah, this went rather fast. Sharaku had figured he might get noticed, if only becasue he wasn't exactly invisible, but he hadn't expected friendly chatter right off the bat. Okay, he was sort of used to this because of Hyde, but it still managed to throw him off once in a while. For some unfanthomable reason, people in this region tended to be more easygoing, or at least that was the conclusion he came up with. Well, not like it was a reason to complain. Not something he was used to, but it didn't mean he couldn't adapt. Talking was something he could do if needed after all. ''I suppose you could put it that way.'', he would respond nonchalantly, returning a small smile when the man asked if he was looking for something to do. Well, technically he was, even if he didn't know what. That was a different story though.

He found it rather amusing that the other was inquiring himself about manners, but would accept the hand without commenting on that. It was a bit weird with both of them wearing gloves, but he didn't really care enough to bother with that small problem..if it even was one. ''My name's Sharaku. It's a pleasure to meet you, Akira.'', he would answer with a light nod. Hmm, he already knew one person with that name. A totally random thought, but he better not start confusing people. That wouldn't be nice at all. ''Also, no need for manners. I am not too bothered by the lack of them.'', he would add with a smile after a moment. Really, he wasn't. 'Afterall, the only manners I really care about are my own, no..?' Yeah, that thought was just about right. He really couldn't care less when it concerned the behavior of others unless it crossed certain lines. Because in all honesty, it actually tended to make him feel weird if someone was overly polite to him. No matter how much he kept setting such a display. One would think it wouldn't bother him if he did it himself on a daily basis, but logic rarely paid attention to him anyway. Who knew...

When the other man introduced himself as Well, Akira nodded, committing his rather unique name to memory. But when Sharaku told him that he didn't mind a lack of manners from those around him Akira chuckled. I'd watch who you tell that, I know some people that would really take that to heart. He said as he Shook Sharaku's hand, letting go soon after. And as for things to do...well there isn't all that much. We have the museum, which everyone here has gone to at least once. We also have the radio station, but you can't really get in there unless you have money and musical talent. Theirs the kendo dojo, they let people come in and practice whenever, the owners are pretty laid back. But other than that..I suppose you could go and get some pizza and watch T.V. at the parlor in town. That's really about it. We don't have much here, since this is a pretty small town. He said, rattling off a quick list of all of the recreational activities he knew about. Honestly you can't do too much on your own here, lots of things require you to bring at least one other person along, which is good if you have someone willing to tag along, but not if you don't have anyone to hang out with. He said with a small grin. So, if your like me, someone that doesn't really have people to hang out with..I suppose the place can get pretty boring. He admitted as he put his hands in the pockets of his coat.

He was being honest about how easy it was to get bored in this town, because it was true. He didn't have many friends anymore, most of them had already disappeared, and those that hadn't disappeared had hightailed it out of town. So in all honesty Akira was the only person in town that couldn't do much other than run errands for the older people in town and eat pizza. And running errands is what took up most of his time. That didn't mean that he didn't have any way of getting around, he did. He just preferred to stay in his hometown for the most part, as the people here were used to how he dressed, so he didn't have to wear the other outfit he had. It was just as comfy, there was really nothing wrong with it. Akira just didn't like it as much as the outfit he was currently wearing. He was..eccentric in that way. Though, from the way Sharaku was dressed, he could tell he wouldn't be hearing any comments from him on attire, which was good. He didn't really care to hear what other people thought about how he dressed.

''I can imagine, but I still wouldn't mind.'' Sharaku would comment in a slightly amused tone when Akira called him out on the manners thing. True, some people might just take it to heart, but he doubted the outcome could be as bad as to bother him excessively. Well, hopefully. He would listen as the whitehaired man gave a rather long explanation which in the end practically summed up that there wasn't much to do in this place. Hm, good to know, though he wouldn't say he required something detailed. Or maybe he just had a bad taste. If a theme park failed to properly entertain him, then what would? Ha, if he knew a certain answer to that. Well, there were a few ideas, but he wouldn't consider actually doing any of that for real. 'That would...never mind..' He would shake his head lightly at his disturbing thoughts before making up something to say to such a speech.

Not that there actually was much to tell. ''Well, from the way you put it, I'll have to assume it's a good idea I don't come here too often. Not that I couldn't gather some company, but sometimes it turns out to be more of a bother than doing something alone.'' He usually did not mind having people tag along, but it didn't mean it was always fun. He was generally willing to accomodate, but even that went only so far. However, truth to be told, there weren't many things to do on your own, that he could understand. What a dilemma indeed. ''...If you don't mind me asking, what were you planning to do then? You say it's easy to get bored here...what would one who lives in this place do all the time?'', he would ask, a little curious. Of course, it wasn't like it was possible to die out of boredom, still it wouldn't be pleasant to have nothing to do all the time. That in mind, he didn't even do much himself, and he lived on an island that had more choices of entertainment than here. '...I am contradicting myself, am I not..?' Well, maybe he was. But it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway. You don't pay for questions.....usually.

When he was asked what someone who lived here, in a town with so little to do, Akira smiled again. Well, usually I try and help out the older people in town. Usually they have something they need help with, and everyone knows everyone here, so we try to help each other out. I guess you could call that my "job". He explained, pulling his hands out of his coat pocket long enough to put quotes around the word job. He described his errands as a job rather loosely, as he didn't get much from them. However, he did get something from them, so it worked out for him well enough. But, since I wasn't going to run errands today, I was planning on heading out of town. Sad thing is, I forgot I loaned my car out to a friend who's moving. He said with a chuckle. Since he didn't have his car, he couldn't really go anywhere.

But, since I don't have my car, I suppose that I don't really have any plans today. He admitted as he shifted his weight from left to right a couple of times. When he'd started wandering the town, his lack of a plan didn't seem very stupid. But now that he was speaking about it out loud, he felt a bit dense for not having a plan at all of what to do. It wouldn't be the first time he didn't exactly think things through, but it was the first time that he'd been forced to think about it objectively...he supposed that certain people would be annoyed by his habit of not exactly planning things out. He just had to hope that Sharaku wasn't one of those people. He hadn't met anyone that was too uptight yet, but he knew that he would at some point. He knew that it was an inevitability, but he kinda hoped that it never really happened. He tried to be a likable person because he liked having friends, so meeting someone he annoyed would really throw him for a loop. He was okay with answering questions that Sharaku had for now though, since it cut down on the boredom of the town. His home wasn't exactly the most exciting place, as he had stated earlier, so he welcomed any intrigue that was being offered.

...That was certainly a strange kind of job, if it could be called a job in the first place. Then again, anything could be considered a job these days. Speaking of which, it wasn't as if Sharaku himself had a job at the moment, so it would be lame to argue on the point anyway. ''That sure is an interesting take on a job. I'm sure people at least appreciate it, if nothing else.'' Well, mostly. Some people are rude no matter what, that was also a fact. Hm, but being judgmental rarely helped either. It was slightly surprising when Akira said he most likely wasn't going anywhere since he didn't have a car available at the moment. Yes, that could be a drawback, but a car wasn't truly neccesary to travel around here, was it? ''There are other ways of transport, aren't there? You can still go even without a car. Or maybe try going by foot to get free excercise on the way.'', he would suggest, a little amused by the idea. Walking would probably take quite the while. Still, the point was, one could get around in a few ways. No use being bored if you didn't have to.

''Although, I can't say I was planning anything either.'', he would shrug lightly. The only thing that could be considered a plan was trying not to run into someone that'd drag him around. Which coincidentally left him with nothing to do. Planning could be so useless sometimes. He wasn't even sure where was the gain in this anymore. He complained about too much jumping around, but was bored if he had nothing to do. Ugh..Well, the point was...that there was no point anymore.

There are other ways of transport, aren't there? You can still go even without a car. Or maybe try going by foot to get free excercise on the way.

Sharaku had made a very good point..in all honesty nothing was stopping him from walking other than his strong desire to be able to feel his legs in the morning. Alright, fair enough. I guess I just really don't want to walk all the way to where I was planning on going earlier today. he said with the smallest of smiles before something he had forgotten about suddenly leapt to the front of his mind. Oh wow..I forgot one more thing you can do here..we have an archery range in town. It just got built a couple days ago, but I've heard that it's really nice, they provide the bows, the arrows, everything. It's not the ideal thing to do..but hey, it's better than nothing, right? He asked with a smile. The range was actually rather close to where they were too, so that was a plus. It's like a block away, plus it's air conditioned..so if you want to at least get out of the heat, I can show you where the range is? he offered, curious as to if Shakaru would accept it or not.

Not want to walk, eh? Guess that was fair enough, even though walking still wasn't the only option available. Sharaku didn't feel like prying too much anyway. What was the point in that anyway? Well, there were some, but alas this didn't prove to be interesting enough for him in the first place. If he couldn't think of a solid reason to keep poking around, then it wasn't really worth it, was it? ''Sure, if you say so.'' It was probably for the best to drop it either way. Because on second thought, what was he to care where someone was going unless it involved him? Apparently, he really needed something to do if he had been wondering about that....

Well, what do you know? It seemed his current companion had come up with something...rather interesting. Now, in all honesty he didn't really know how to react. He wasn't against it in general, but fact was he didn't know anything about this type of activity. Seriously, he never even had the chance to see a bow before, much less use one. Which would probably ensue hilarity if he were to try it. ''......'', he would be silent for a while, thinking on how to proceed with this. It was either say no and avoid any trouble, or go along and....well, who knew? Hm, what was the worst that could happen? Wait no, that was not a helpful trail of thinking to follow. ''The heat itself doesn't really bother me as much...'', he would end up adressing the second part of Akira's talk first, with a short laugh. He didn't know whether to be amused at the moment or not. This was a rather complicated situation all of a sudden. ''...Very well. I suppose it's worth a try.'', he would finally answer after a moment of consideration.


''Can't say how will this turn out though.'', he would add casually, with a small hint of amusement. Sure, he didn't know how it was done, but that didn't mean he was going to be upset about it. Might as well have some jest with it if nothing else, if he was already agreeing to go. Besides, Akira didn't seem like he would rush along too much, and if he could handle Hyde's style of handling things, this should work fine, right? And if not, it'll be a different type of entertainment. Fine with him either way....as long as he wouldn't end up as target pracitce...That might just be a bit too overboard.

When Sharaku fell silent for a moment, Akira began to wonder if he had actually managed to annoy the man by suggesting archery. But, when he finally spoke up again, and agreed to it, Akira smiled once more. Then come on, Like I said, it's not too far. He said as he walked past Sharaku, heading down the street at a good pace. He wasn't quite running, but he wasn't walking either. It was kind of like he was speed walking. As it was, it was a tad bit too hot for Akira's liking at the moment, considering that it was about noon now. If the day was going to get any hotter, now was the time. And it did get quite a bit warmer, considering all the things the light from the sun had to bounce off of: Glass from skyscrapers, the brick streets, concrete, street lamps. The city was a veritable greenhouse when it was hot. Which was why Akira was glad that he got to the range in a good couple of minutes, having only turned one corner and walked across the empty street. Alright, here we are! He said as he looked over his shoulder with a smile before pushing the doors open.

Now, he might have suggested coming here, but sadly enough, neither he nor Sharaku really knew how to use a bow. He figured he could pick it up quickly enough, but still, he knew that there was bound to be a lot of fun to be had in competing to see who was the better shot..that was if Sharaku didn't know how to use a bow either. He hoped that was the case, because he didn't want to be embarrassed by getting shown up at something that was his own idea to do. But, all of that went to the back of his mind as he pulled his wallet out from inside his coat pocket and placed two twenties on the counter in front of the register. Where do you keep the supplies? he asked as the woman at the register took his money, giving him two tickets with range numbers on them, one of which he held out to his companion as the woman at the register told him that the bows and arrows were kept in a room that was just outside the actual ranges. He quickly thanked the woman before heading to that room and grabbing a decent sized bow and a thing of about ten arrows. Alright..pick a bow and then we can get started. He said as he walked out of the room, giving Sharaku as much space as he needed to pick the bow he wanted. Akira had settled with a compound bow, though he didn't know that. It wasn't the easiest bow in the world to fire, but it was something that could be picked up easily enough.

((OoC: Haha, this better be fun lol I've spent an hour looking up stuff about bows xD Cause I am just that lame))

Sharaku would follow Akira as the man made the way. Funnily enough he wasn't the least bothered by the quick pace, neither the raising heat, which was probably for the best as of now. Okay, maybe it was a bit warm outside, but in all honesty he believed that was the least of his worries. While he was not exactly a fan of hot weather, it was far too of a trivial matter to think about. Besides, if it was too hot, there was still the option of removing some clothes. But nevermind that. He should be more worried by what was to come. While yes, he did find the idea fairly amusing, it was a bit irritating on the other side. Being wary about trying new things was not it, but it still felt weird to do something like this out of the blue. Though he figured it was not that much of a stretch. He was getting involved with fighting lately, so maybe learning how to use a weapon wouldn't actually be useless...in a long shot. That was, if he decided to put some work into it. Whatever.

''Very well...'', he would nod when Akira said they were there. For a while he would simply wait around as the other man did his stuff, though he would supress a frown at the fact that he was technically getting paid for again. Was that becoming a new trend or something? He really couldn't put a finger on why that kept happening lately. Thankfully, he was in a calm enough of a mood at the moment, so it didn't irritate him as much as it could have. Still, he had a feeling he was going to have to look into the matter later on. This wasn't exactly an enjoyable coincidence, and if he could he'd rather avoid this repeating too much, thank you. Taking the offered ticket, he would follow after Akira casually.


Now the fun began. He watched the other make a pick before giving the choices a more thorough glance himself. Frankly, he had no idea what the difference was, so this was most likely going to be a blind pick. Not that he really believed it would matter in the end. It was the same weapon, just slightly different looks. It probably worked the same no matter what. Well, mostly. A few differences would be understandable. ''Well, how about this...'', he would mutter, eventually settling on a longbow. Which wasn't exactly the best choice of the century, but what was he to know? Not that it was extremely hard to use, but it might take some practice first to get it right. Oh well, that was to be seen later. Sharaku would inspect the weapon for a while, wondering what exactly were they going to do. Well, duh, shoot right, but wouldn't that get boring after a while, with no purpose behind it? He had originally been looking for something entertaining enough to do, and even though this might turn out rather messy due to a rather sizeable lack of experience, he still felt confident enough to play around a bit. Consider it foolish or not, but contrary to what it may look on a casual glance, he did not like to sit back too much. Mainly in situations when it was sort of a challenge. Most people figured he wasn't the type to go out of his way, if only because of his formal style of clothing and the way he initially acted when meeting people. That was not neccessarily true though.

''Fazer bagunça, eh?'', he would mutter in amusement, not exactly paying attention to Akira at that particular moment. Then again, the other man was most likely not going to understand either way. Unless he inquired, but who knew whether he'd get a straight answer for that. 'Well, well...' His way of thinking was really going to bite him one day, but he was obviously far from worried about that. At least in the face of something like this. ''Hm, not that I think this would be boring....but, I was wondering...'', he would finally turn his full attention on Akira, with a light smile playing on his lips. ''How about we play a game...?'', he would ask a bit vaguely, keeping a light tone and an easygoing smile. He was a bit intrigued to see what reaction he'd get to that, which is why he chose not to pin exactly what he meant yet. His thoughts were his own after all.